All Aboard
by Cehsja
Summary: When a mishap at the King's Cross station means that Jess ceases to exist in present day England, everything goes wrong. Now Matt is the only one who remembers her and can save her. Matt/Jess friendship. Also Jecker/Conby/Memily
1. Chapter 1

"Jess, are you there?" Matt spoke in a clipped tone into the comms as he sped towards the King's Cross train station.

Nothing.

"How long does it take to get the computer and comms and all that up and running again?" Becker asked him from the back seat of the car.

"No idea, but I'm sure it won't be much longer until we can hear her."

Becker frowned, "Matt, I… Are you sure it should take this long? It's been fifteen minutes. We should be able to hear her by now. You don't think something's wrong do you? What if the predators are still in the ARC?"

"Predators were destroyed, Becker."

"Something else could have happened. What if she was injured and didn't tell us? Maybe she'd hit her head while saving Lester."

Emily turned in the passenger seat to glance at Becker and then looked back at Matt, exchanging a glance with him. "Matt, pull over."

Matt sighed, "Emily, we've got more pressing matters right now. Problems that actually exist."

"And Becker's not going to be on his A-Game right now and you know that's a danger in the field."

"I'm fine," Becker mumbled, "It's Jess I'm worried about."

Matt pulled the car over while Emily reached Connor and Abby on her mobile. "Connor, listen, we've pulled over and we need you guys to stop too."

A moment later a second vehicle pulled up beside them and Connor and Abby emerged.

"What's going on, Guys?" Abby asked.

"Vehicle switch. You two come with us, Becker's going to take your truck back to the ARC."

Becker glared at them, "I said I'm fine."

"Yes, but if there's any chance your totally unjustified concerns are true, you might be needed back there."

Becker snatched the keys from Abby's hand and jumped into the vehicle, taking off without another word.

"What was that about?" Abby asked in concern.

"He's worried about Jess because we couldn't raise her by the comms."

"The comms are down," Connor stated, confused. "It'll take a good twenty five minutes for her to have everything back online and working. Anyway, couldn't he have called her?"

"It's been a long day for both of them," Emily said gently, "I think he needs to be with her now. We'll be fine without him."

"Right," Abby agreed, climbing into the back of the truck and sitting in the same seat Becker had been earlier, "Now, instead of sitting around here, let's go find that train, yeah?"

"Yep," Matt replied, giving her a friendly grin as he took the driver's seat again, "All aboard!"

/

"That's new," Matt said dryly as the team stared at the anomalies in front of them. The two anomalies were side-by-side, almost touching but not quite. They were separated by less than half an inch. Both anomalies sat directly on the train tracks.

Suddenly the comms crackled into life and Jess' voice came through them, "Matt? Becker? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you fine, Jess. Becker's on his way back to the ARC now and the rest of us are at the anomalies."

"Becker's where? Wait… did you just say anomalies, plural?"

"Behind you," Becker's voice came over the comms too, speaking to Jess.

The rest of the team heard Jess' small exclamation of surprise and smiled a bit, but Becker continued to speak before they could tease them. "Matt, is everything okay over there? Jess still doesn't have any picture on her screens."

"Fine," Matt replied, "There are two anomalies here, but no sign of an incursion. Connor's just dating them now."

"I don't believe it!" Connor's voice came over the comms a moment later.

"What is it, Con?" Abby asked, leaning over his shoulder to read the dating calculator. "1999?"

"That's recent," Jess said in surprise.

"Jess' when were these train tracks built?" Matt asked.

"Long before 1999," was her reply, "Let me check."

"No, doesn't matter. Okay, so the train that disappeared probably didn't crash then. That's a good sign. It would have kept right on going.'

"But we need to get it back. Who knows what could change."

"I'm going through," Abby said. She met Matt's stern look with a stubborn one of her own, "I won't go far, I'm just going to go through, make a phone call, and have them to reverse the train so it can come back the way it went. Jess, can you make a few calls and get the rest of the rail line shut down?"

"Already done," Jess replied, and Becker saw the proud smirk on her face.

"Abby, I'll go," Matt said.

"This time it's my turn," Abby responded, disappearing through the anomaly before Matt's eyes.

Matt sighed and looked at Connor who was staring after her, "Connor, go with her."

Connor nodded and darted through himself, tossing the dating calculator to Emily as he did so.

Emily walked slowly over to the second anomaly and aimed the devise. "Oh you've gotta be joking!" She exclaimed a moment later, trying out a new phrase that Matt had taught her the night before.

Matt leaned over her shoulder and stared at the device.

At that moment Becker's voice came over the comms, "Pictures up! We can see you guys again. What is it?"

"The second anomaly leads to 2013."

"That's two years from now!" Jess exclaimed.

"Yes, Jess, I can count," Matt replied.

"Matt!" Emily chastised him in one word.

"Sorry Jess," Matt apologized immediately.

"S'okay."

"I'm going through," Matt spoke suddenly.

"What? Why?" Becker said, "You can't Matt. It's against the rules."

"It's the future right? It's after convergence. I won't be long, I just want to take a look, make sure everything's okay. I want to see for myself that we really did fix the future."

"Go," Emily said.

"Not your call, Emily," Becker said firmly as he watched Matt give Emily a quick kiss and disappear through the anomaly on his screen. He sighed and placed a hand on Jess' shoulder, turning off his comms for a moment.

"Maybe I should have stayed there. Now Emily's the only one left on this side. How do you do this all the time Jess? I feel so helpless just sitting here watching."

Jess smiled at him reassuringly, "I know the exact feeling, but the good news is that you guys are all brilliant and never let me down." Then she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, "Why did you come back here anyway?"

Becker shrugged and then sighed. "Just didn't feel right leaving you quite so soon after everything that's happened," he admitted.

Jess looked delightedly surprised at him and quickly kissed his cheek before she could talk herself out of it, and then turned immediately back to the computers, ignoring the pleased smirk on Becker's face.

"Emily, how are you holding up?" She asked. She noticed Becker switching his comms back on beside her so he could hear her answer.

"Bored," the woman replied, "Seriously, not much for me to do here. But after the rest of the day, boring is good."

"Can't blame you there," Becker laughed. "Should we send backup?"

"What for?"

"To keep you company."

Emily laughed, "Sure, and you can be the one to tell Lester that we're paying the backup units overtime to come in when off duty to entertain me."

Jess giggled, "Well at least we know that the only predators likely to come through are nothing but choo-choo trains."

Becker raised an eyebrow and looked at her with an amused smile on his face. "Choo-choo trains, Jess?"

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just, I haven't heard anyone call them that in awhile. Not since I was about four."

Jess playfully slapped his arm, "Shut up, Becker."

A moment later, Abby and Connor reappeared through the right hand anomaly. "Off the tracks!" Connor shouted at Emily. "Mission accomplished: One Choo-choo train on its way back through in five."


	2. Chapter 2

Emily, Abby and Connor stood back and watched as the train slowly backed up out of the anomaly and safely back into their own time. It stopped then and Abby stepped up to speak to the conductor for a few minutes.

When she returned, she had a smile on her face, "They've reported no problems and said everyone is safe and sound on board. Most people didn't even notice. Not that it matters now, after the apocalyptical events earlier today I'm thinking our little secret is out anyway. Still I've arranged for the ones that did notice to be debriefed and we'll see what we can do. Where's Matt?"

Emily nodded towards the left hand anomaly. "Would you believe that thing leads to 2013? Matt's gone through to make sure the future was properly restored, though he does seem to be taking awhile. I'm betting he's wandering and thinking, but if he's not back in fifteen I'm going through to get him."

"Might wanna close the 1999 anomaly now, Guys," Becker's voice came over the comms.

"Right," Connor nodded. "Wow, 2013 you say? I wonder why so recent, both of them? I wonder if that'll become more common now that convergence has passed. I guess we'll see. Something to look into I suppose."

He made his way toward the anomaly locking device, but just before he hit the button, Emily raised her hand, palm out, toward him. "Stop! Something's coming through."

Connor paused and they all watched. The sound travelled through first, like a loud train rushing down the tracks, but then suddenly it stopped and nothing appeared."

"That's weird," Connor said. "Nothing came through."

"I heard it," Emily responded, "It was a ghost train."

"A ghost train?" Abby asked incredulously, "Seriously you don't believe that."

"I believe in a lot of things I never used to," Emily responded, "such as Gateways through time."

"Point taken. Still, I don't think it was a ghost."

"What's your explanation then."

"I think…" Connor began, slowly, "I think we couldn't see it from this angle, but I think a train just came through from 1999, and continued right on through to 2013."

Abby sighed and leaned against the ARC truck. "And to think, all I wanted to do this evening was go home and sleep."

Connor stepped towards her and kissed her cheek, "Abby, when we get home I'll draw you a nice relaxing bubble bath and make some tea and dinner for you while you soak in it."

"That sounds fabulous, Connor, but you must be exhausted too."

"Not too tired for my new fiancée," he whispered in her ear, not quite quiet enough.

Emily's head whipped around to look at them in surprise, "You guys are engaged?"

Abby rolled her eyes at Connor but then smiled at Emily, "Yeah, and I guess we're telling people now too."

Emily smiled, "Congrats."

"Thanks, but now, I suppose we should really be heading on over to the future, yeah?"

Suddenly they heard the noise of conversations starting up and cutting off over and over again. They rushed over to the anomalies and saw people walking between the two. People with luggage, coming from 2013 and making their way back to 1999. It was a strange sight. They'd barely get a glimpse of someone and they'd be gone.

"Matt must have sent them back," Emily concluded, "but I wonder why they are on foot. Did something happen with the train?"

They watched for awhile longer and the people stopped coming. The anomaly from 1999 suddenly began to pulse and then closed.

"Well, I hope that was everyone then," Abby said, "Because they aren't going through now."

"At least if anyone is still trapped, they are in a human era," Connor replied, "Better than being trapped in the cretaceous."

"Agreed," Abby said immediately, "But I do worry about how this could change history, or the future, or whatever."

"I suppose if it's changed, we wouldn't have even noticed."

The future anomaly suddenly started to pulse too and Emily turned to it. "Matt!" she cried out, dashing through.

/

Matt had walked into 2013 and, to his delight, found it looking very alive indeed. There were no people on this little stretch of track at the moment, but there were plants growing and buildings in the distance that appeared to be well-maintained, and that was definitely a good sign. He stepped off the tracks and made his way over towards them, wanting to get just a little closer, just to be sure.

He walked in silence, listening to a bird song, when suddenly a large rumble started up behind him and to his dismay a train came flying through the anomaly. The conductor slammed on the breaks, too hard, and the train came derailed, tipping onto its side. People were screaming and Matt rushed over to help. He pried open one of the large doors and people stared at him, frightened.

"Is anyone hurt in here?" He asked.

People began to pat themselves down, as if looking for their own broken bones as they stretched their limbs. There seemed to be a few bruises and bumps, but for the most part, the people were okay. Matt helped them climb out of the train.

"This is going to sound odd, but I need to test for head injuries," Matt said, "Quick, what year is it?"

"1999," a few of them answered in unison.

"Good, you seem fine, but you need to go back out of the way of the rescue crews," he told them. "Go through the flickering light and immediately there will be another one. Just keep walking. Don't stop until all the light is behind you."

The people that could, supported those with sprained ankles and other minor injuries as they made there way through. Most of them were too dazed to answer. Matt went to the second and third cars of the train and did the same. It wasn't until he came to the final car that he found anyone with a more critical injury. Most the people were fine, and had had enough time to recover that they had questions. Matt tried to answer them as best he could, but mostly he just kept repeating for them to go through the anomaly. There was one man lying on the floor unconscious with a young girl beside him.

"Daddy!" She was crying, her face buried into his chest.

Matt gently knelt beside the girl and put a hand on her shoulder, "I need you to step back a moment, Sweetheart," he said to the girl, "So I can take a look."

The girl's head flew up and she looked at him, her large blue eyes filled with tears and Matt caught his breath. _Why did she look so familiar? _Never mind, he had more pressing matters just then. "I need you to follow everyone through the lights," He told her. "I'll take care of your Daddy, I promise."

The girl shook her head, "No! I'm not leaving him! I'm not leaving him!"

Matt reached for the man's wrist beside him and his heart sunk as he realised there was no pulse. He must have hit his head hard when the train had tipped over and Matt knew it was too late for him, he just didn't know how to tell the child. Emily would be better at that, he though.

"We have to go," He told her again gently, reaching to pick her up. It was a mistake and he knew it the instant her eyes widened.

"He's not my Dad!" she screamed the phrase she'd probably been taught at school to ward off kidnappers as she ran out the train and raced up the street, away from Matt.

Matt sighed, glad there was no one around to waste his time arresting him, as he climbed out of the train to follow her. It was then that he saw the pulsing anomaly and Emily running through it toward him.

"Matt! C'mon!" She yelled, "We have to go NOW!" She grabbed his arm.

"You go, Emily! I have to find the girl. She's from 1999."

"There's no time! She's trapped either way, the 1999 anomaly has closed. Someone will help her, but we have to go or we'll be trapped too."

"Emily, just leave. I need to look for her."

Emily stopped, "Matt if you're staying in this time, so am I. It's not like Connor and Abby's time is _our _time anyway and my home is with you. But I think the ARC needs us and I really think we should return. Someone will help the girl, but there are many others whose lives are at stake with these anomalies and we have to hurry."

"Right," Matt agreed finally, squeezing Emily's hand. He began to run, pulling Emily through with him just before it closed.

"Thought you weren't gonna make it," Connor greeted them with a grin.

"You underestimate us, Temple," Matt laughed, "Did the passengers make it back to 1999?"

"Yep, all the ones that came through."

"One was trapped over there, and one dead. Dad and daughter. The girl's only about 7. I'm not sure what she'll do."

"Oh, no," Abby replied, her eyes showing her genuine concern, "The poor thing."

Matt nodded, and then spoke into the comms, "Jess? Becker? We're coming back."

The others turned to stare at him. "Uh, Matt? Who you talking to there?"

"Jess and Becker," Matt replied, confused.

Abby placed a hand on Matt's shoulder, "Matt, Becker died, last year, and Jess, we don't know who she is…"

"What kind of a sick joke is that?" Matt demanded, horror filling his mind.

"Not a joke, dude," Connor confirmed.

Matt looked at Emily, she wouldn't do that to him. She nodded her confirmation.

"But… but what happened?" Matt asked, "What happened to them?"

"We told you, we don't know Jess. But how can you not remember, Matt? Becker was killed by Ethan. There was a bomb."

"No, no, he didn't die because Jess, she saved him."

"We don't know a Jess," Emily repeated softly.

"Something's changed," Matt said.

Connor nodded, suddenly stricken, "This isn't the first time then. I'll believe you, Matt. It's like with Claudia Brown. Something happened."

Abby looked at Matt with concern, "Tell us about this Jess then?"

Matt looked at her, "Please, someone, remember her. She's young, just turned twenty. Incredibly smart, possibly as smart as you, Connor. She's amazing at her job and she's always cheerful. She's got long dark red hair, almost brown and these big blue eyes that…"

He stopped talking suddenly, Jess' eyes coming back to him, staring at him, but in the face of a little girl who had just lost her father. He turned at stared at the empty train tracks where the anomalies had just been. "And she's skipped our time."


	3. Chapter 3

Emily watched Matt closely from through the glass doors. He had been standing out on his balcony for the last few hours, thinking. He always went out there to think, even when it was pouring rain. He'd specifically asked her to leave him alone for awhile, but that was hours ago and Emily wanted nothing more now than to be allowed to comfort him in the loss of his friends. She opened the door sliding door softly, and moved to stand next to him, wondering if her presence would be accepted yet.

Matt glanced at her shortly as she moved to his side, standing close enough that their forearms brushed against each other's lightly. She purposefully kept her eyes on the city below them, not looking at him just now. She wanted to give him his privacy still, should he want it, in this little way. Matt's eyes didn't stay on her as he returned to looking out at the view before them as well, but he also didn't say anything about wanting her to leave. They were silent for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts and taking comfort in the others nearness. A cool breeze caused Emily to shiver and Matt removed his coat, wrapping it over her shoulders. They exchanged a smile, but still neither of them said anything.

Suddenly, after what felt like ages of prolonged silence, Matt straightened his posture and stepped back from the railing. Instantly, Emily's eyes were on him again. "C'mon," Matt spoke, finally, as he reached for her hand, "Let's go back inside. It's getting chillier."

Emily nodded and followed him into his flat. Matt immediately moved into the kitchen and began cutting up some vegetables to prepare them dinner. Emily hopped up onto a bar stool on the other side of the counter as she watched him carefully.

"It's a shame, it is," Matt spoke freely now, with a teasing smile on his face, "Cutting up all these plants just to satisfy our stomachs. I'm thinking of becoming a meat-itarian."

Emily laughed, and it felt great to do so. "Don't let Abby hear you talk like that, yeah? She'd have your hide."

"It's true," Matt agreed, "And I admit, I love the creatures myself, but gosh, these poor plants!"

"You and your plants. But you'd feel bad either way, I suppose, so what are you going to eat?"

"We can just live off milk. Oh, and salt too."

"Yum… salty milk. Anything else?"

Matt shook his head, a smirk growing on his face. "Nope. That's it. Salty milk."

"Right," Emily said, "Well, you can have your salty milk, and I'll enjoy my steak and vegetables right in front of you, and we'll see how long this diet of yours lasts."

"I suppose I could grow some fruit trees and only eat the fruit that's dropped off it."

Emily nodded, pretending to think about it, "I suppose. Yes, I like that idea. I'll eat the freshly picked fruit, and you can eat the older stuff that falls on the ground."

Matt flashed her a grin as he continued to cut up the vegetables to make a stir-fry for them both. They still weren't talking about what had happened at the anomaly earlier, and they definitely weren't talking about the whole end of the world thing before that, but it was a relief just to talk and tease and not think about it for a moment. There'd be plenty of time for that coming up soon.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Matt?" Emily cautiously asked as she helped him clean up after dinner, "You've been thinking hard and it's not the I-Miss-My-Friends type thinking, it's the I've-Got-An-Idea type."

Matt laughed, "You think you know me so well, eh? Well, never mind, because you're right. I do have an idea, but it's somewhat of a risk, I think."

"I've never known you to have an idea that wasn't. Please tell me it's not more risky than driving the truck into Philip's anomaly."

"No, I don't think so. Emily, I need to tell you something. I saw myself today."

Emily looked at him puzzled, "Seeing as you shaved in front of the mirror this morning, I'm not surprised."

Matt rolled his eyes at her, "I don't mean like that. There was another me. From the past, or the future. He showed up in our time and told me to go back."

Emily took this in slowly. "Go back where?"

Matt shrugged, "To the future, I think."

"I thought you said the future was fine now."

"I thought it was. I still think it was. I think it was about something else."

"Jess."

"Maybe. He, I, appeared before the timeline changed though, before Jess was gone."

"But that's in our time. It could still have happened already in his time."

"Maybe."

"Can you even get back? Besides, how would you going to the future change anything? Jess has already gone. Wouldn't you have to go to the past to stop it?"

"That's where my idea comes in, Emily. I've been doing the math. I'm from 2025."

"So you've told me."

"If Jess grew up in a restored timeline, starting in 2013 when she was about seven, she'd about nineteen now. I mean, not now, but in 2025. It's the same age she was when I met her. I could bring her back here."

"And she wouldn't know any of us, and she still wouldn't be here on time to save Becker. Besides, how are you going to convince her to come with you? In fact, how are you even going to get there in the first place?"

Matt smiled, "See, Emily, that's what I've been working on. Connor can build another anomaly to that time, I know he could. How do you think I came through to this time in the first place? We have the technology in the future to open anomalies to any time we want, invented by le Connor Temple of course. Oh, he hasn't done it yet, but maybe this is why he will. I'll assign it to him immediately. I can get back."

"Still, it won't save Becker."

"Oh, I won't bring Jess _here. _Have you ever noticed, Emily, that Jess randomly showed up at the ARC at the same time as I did? And who in their right mind would have given a nineteen-year-old a chance and a job like this if she didn't have an in? What if I, the other version of me I mean, brought her here? What if I find Jess in the future and deliver her to the version of myself that is coming to get interviewed at the ARC in the first place?"

"Only, you're not doing that now as the future is restored."

"It is _now, _but it's not restored in the past before we restored it. It's confusing I know, I'll have to get her to the past first, then to the future from the past as that future isn't restored yet, and find that version of myself, which is really the only way to go back anyway if I'm going to listen to myself."

Emily shook her head, "I think," she said cautiously, "I'm getting a headache."

Matt just grinned, unable to wipe the happiness from his eyes at the thought of restoring Jess, and saving Becker, in the current timeline. "I _can _do this, Emily, I know it."

Emily grinned back, "I know you can, and you will, just don't expect me to ever understand it."

"You don't need to," Matt said, "For all you know, Jess doesn't even exist. What does matter, is that you understand_ this._" And with that he kissed her.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Sorry for the long delay, I thought it'd be better to finish some of my other stories first since I had too many unfinished ones on the go. They are completed now, so I'm back to writing this one. **

Emily went to bed shortly after, but Matt was too excited about his idea to join her. He just wanted to bring Jess back where she belonged as soon as possible.

"Connor," Matt said into the mobile the instant Connor had picked up. "I need you to meet me in your lab, immediately."

Connor groaned, "Mate, I've just survived the end of the world, then I dealt with two crazy anomalies at a train station. Don't you think I deserve a night off?"

Matt's tone softened, "Of course you do, Connor. We _all _deserve a night off. But this is important. I need to save Jess."

"And _I _need to sleep. Not to mention, I don't know _how _to help her."

"I do."

He heard Connor hesitate on the other end. "Really?"

"Yes, I think so, but I need that brain of yours."

"At the moment, it's not functioning though, Matt. Can we not do this tomorrow? Actually…" There was a few muffled sounds coming through the other end and then suddenly Connor's voice started back up again. "Actually, the day after, Matt. I can't help you tomorrow. Abby says I'm not allowed."

"Not allowed?" Matt asked, amused.

"She says I have to have a day off. Trust me Matt, you don't want to mess with an angry Abby."

"Oh for Pete's sake, put her on the phone, will ya?

* * *

><p>An hour later Emily found Matt sulking on the couch when she got up for a glass of water.<p>

"Matt?" she questioned gently, laying her hand upon his arm. "Aren't you coming to bed?"

Matt sighed, "Word of advice, Em, never, _ever _make Abby angry. Did you know I'm not allowed to go after Jess for a _week?"_

"A week?" Emily questioned. "I overheard you on the phone. I thought you said the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, no, that's Connor. He can start working the day after tomorrow but since I plan to actually go through the anomaly he makes, I have to take more time to rest up first, especially since I'm apparently _crankier _than him and _need more sleep."_

To Matt's dismay, Emily giggled. "It's not _funny, _Emily. Jess could be in danger!"

"You're going to a time that is twelve years after she first arrived in the future, Matt. I think if she's lived there for twelve years, she can manage another week. _Anyway, _do you really think Connor will be done his work in just a week?"

"Well…"

"Exactly, so stop fretting about things you can't control. Come to bed; get a good night's sleep and in the morning I'll talk to Abby about letting you help Connor in the lab."

"You know I don't _actually _need her permission," Matt responded. "Or yours. I am team leader."

Emily just smirked as she stood and reached for his hand, dragging him to bed.

* * *

><p>"Alright," Connor spoke as he shut the door to Matt's lab a couple of day's later, "You think you know how to rescue Jess and, by doing so, bring Becker back to life? That right?"<p>

"Correct."

"Should we really be playing around with time like this? What if we change something further?"

"We won't," Matt promised. "We already did that, now we're just… changing it back. Besides, the other Matt told me to go back and I think this is what he meant. Trust me."

"The _other_ Matt?" Connor raised an eyebrow.

"Step through enough recent anomalies, and you run into yourself eventually."

Connor gave Matt a sceptical look. "That's gotta be weird."

"You get used to it. But let me just say that when a future version of yourself thinks it's important enough to find you, you'd best listen to your own advice. Now, let's get started. I need you to open an anomaly to 2025."

"How?"

Matt shrugged, "That's your job."

"What if I can't?"

"Connor, you know I'm from the future, right? So how'd I get to your time?"

"Anomaly."

Matt rolled his eyes, "Yes, but I knew where I was coming through to. I didn't just randomly walk through the first anomaly that opened and hope for the best. I was sent to this time period specifically."

"How'd you know?"

"Because the technology exists in the future to open specific anomalies."

"Cool!" Connor exclaimed, and Matt could see he still wasn't catching on. He'd have to be more specific.

"Yes, 'cool', and we _have _that technology because _you _invented it."

Connor's eyes lit up and he became animated, "I did? Of course I did. Who else could've done it but le brilliant Connor Temple?"

Matt humoured him by laughing, "Now here's the real kicker, you've actually _used _this technology already. Confused me right good it did, since I knew you hadn't invented it yet. You've used a lot that you learned from Phillip's projects to make this technology. I don't actually like to tell people that much about their future, but if these hints help you out so we can rescue Jess faster, than so be it."

Connor frowned, "What do you mean I've used it before?"

Matt didn't reply. Instead he walked over to a safe that was hidden behind a few plants and turned the knob through the combination numbers until it popped open. He pulled an item of it that was wrapped in a leather bag and tossed it to Connor who pulled it out and then stared at it in surprise.

"This was Helen's! This is what _she _used to open anomalies."

"She borrowed the technology from the future, but you created it in the first place. At least, you created the machine to make it work. Did you not notice that Helen's computer was inside the future version of the ARC?"

"I did, but I didn't think much about it. How did you get this? Did you bring it from the future with you?"

Matt shook his head, "No, we left the future technology in the future, where it belongs. We couldn't risk it getting into the wrong hands before conversion. This was yours."

Connor frowned, "Mine had wires hanging out the bottom and a dinosaur ate it."

Matt rolled his eyes, "That's the second one you found, if you've told me truth about your time in the cretaceous. This is your first one that died and lost the info. It was in your backpack when you returned to the ARC."

"And you stole it."

"Hung onto it for safe keeping, yeah?"

"It's been dead so long now. I don't think anything would be stored on it now."

"It's been wiped clean," Matt confirmed, "I was able to restore power to it, but it doesn't do anything. Which is why you need to reinvent your machine."

"Only, I needed the artefact for that," Connor frowned, "And Helen broke that."

Matt reached deep into the safe and tossed him a second item, "Did you think there was only one?"

Connor's face displayed his excitement as he flung his arms around Matt for a hug.

"Woah, back off, Buddy," Matt laughed, stepping away. "Save it for Abby, yeah?"

"Right, sorry," Connor apologized, "It's just that, finally, I can finish Cutter's work!"


	5. Chapter 5

"You know what, Abby?" Connor said excitedly as they climbed under the pea green quilt on their bed. "When I invent this machine, we'll be able to open up anomalies to anywhere!"

"Yep, Connor, you've only been telling me about it all evening."

"I'm just thinking, Abs," he continued, ignoring her sarcasm, "that we could finally return all your pets to their proper homes."

Abby smiled and she kissed him on the cheek. "You know it's when you make comments like that, Con, that I truly think you're a genius."

"Only Abs, can we consider keeping Rex?"

"Well of course," she chuckled, "No fretting about that. We tried to return him once and he chose to stay, remember?"

"I remember."

They fell silent for awhile, both thinking of that first mission where they'd first found Rex and each other. Eventually Connor began to doze off and he was almost asleep when he became aware that Abby was speaking to him again.

"Don't ya think?" was the only thing he managed to catch.

Connor yawned and tried to focus on her again as he asked, "Eh? Can you repeat that?"

"Sorry," Abby apologized, seeming to realise that she'd woken him up. "I just said that, if Matt's right, it'll be really weird having Becker alive again. I've missed him, but it'll sorta feel like he's a ghost, don't ya think?"

"No, it won't, Abs," Connor responded, sitting up a bit higher in the bed. "We won't even notice the difference. It'll be like time evolved differently and we'll never know he ever died. Only Matt will remember this."

"That's even weirder."

"Yep," Connor agreed as he slid back down into the bed again and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

><p>True to Emily's point, Connor wasn't anywhere near done building the machine in a week's time. It wasn't for his lack of ideas, he seemed to have plenty of those, but they'd been interrupted nearly daily to deal with new anomaly alerts, most of which now led to time periods within the last one thousand years or so. Neither Connor nor Matt could explain this strange new development, but they could only assume that it had something to do with the aftermath of convergence. Matt was not in the slightest bit happy about it. Dinosaurs coming through to the modern era were one thing, but humans were another and, while he was more likely to fancy his chances with a human in a fight, he knew that potentially the humans were more dangerous and could mess things up in a way that no dinosaur ever could.<p>

Still, there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it at the moment, other than try to lock the anomalies as before anyone came through and to keep on helping Connor by playing assistant to the man while he build his machine out of an old photocopier.

The next obstacle in completing their project arrived when Connor suddenly said he needed some new, very expensive, coils. They'd have to have Lester's signature in order to authorise payment for them, but Lester was still in a very bad way in the hospital and not really expected to pull through. The news about Lester's condition had come as a shock to Matt, but then he'd suddenly remembered the way Lester had been resting in Jess' arms after the future predators had attacked and he realised that she'd probably done more to protect Lester than he'd originally known. He became even more anxious to get Jess back and put unnecessary extra pressure on Connor to find a way around the problem with the coils, pressure that he knew was probably hindering rather than helping the process, but he was too anxious to stop himself.

After a bit, Connor got tired of Matt's orders to "work faster" and tried to hold a proper conversation with him.

"So," he asked as he tore apart the first item in a large pile of electronics he had scavenged up, looking for something that could replace the coil he needed, "This Jess girl, what's she like? You said she was smart?"

"Very. She's a lot like you, only shorter with taller shoes."

"What's her job here, exactly?"

"Field co-ordinator mainly, but she does all our hacking for us, fixes computers, etc."

"And you said she's only nineteen?"

"Nearly twenty, I believe, but yeah."

Connor let out a low whistle, "Impressive. Do I like her?"

"Of course, why wouldn't you like her?"

"Sounds like she'd taken my job," Connor chuckled. "Just want to make sure I'm not going to all this trouble to save someone I can't stand."

"You've got plenty to work on yourself. Actually, she gets along great with everybody, but I think she's closest to you."

"Really? Me?"

"Sure, you have a lot of common and you understand each other's excitement over computers. Plus you spend a lot of time together what with work and living together."

Connor dropped the screwdriver to the floor with a clatter as whipped his head up to look at Matt. "We… what?"

"Right, forgot that bit. You've moved into her flat about the time you got back to the cretaceous."

Connor started to sputter as he asked, "But… but… what about Abby?!"

Matt immediately caught Connor's misunderstanding and opened his mouth to correct him, before thinking better about it and deciding instead to have a little bit of fun with him. "Oh, no worries. You're very happy living with Jess."

Connor frowned, looking quite distressed, "I'm happier living with Abby."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because," Connor whined, "I couldn't _be _happier with someone else. Abby and Me's even getting' married."

Matt nodded, "Emily told me that. Congratulations."

"But…" Connor gestured frantically towards the photocopier and Matt decided to give him a break.

"Relax, Connor. You're still with Abby. You two share the spare bedroom at Jess'. Jess is like a sister to you."

Connor relaxed visibly at that news. "That's okay then. I think. I dunno if Abs is going to be happy about living with me sister though."

Matt laughed, "Abby likes her too. Look, just trust me on this okay? Anyway, it's Jess' flat, if you wanna live on your own, you two can move out."

"True," Connor said thoughtfully. "But I'm still not sure Abby's gonna be happy." He went back to work, tearing apart two computers, a video game controller, and even an EMD looking for useable parts. Matt watched for a bit, and then left the room in silence, thinking that Connor might get on with his job faster if he wasn't disturbed.

He'd only made it as far as the operations Hub when Connor's shout came across the room. "Matt! I've got it! I know how to make it work!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay," Connor grinned at Matt a few hours later, "I don't know why I didn't think of this before. When in doubt, _always _turn to Abby's hairdryer. Best invention ever."

Matt looked at the vamped up photocopier and grinned because it did indeed look like the one he'd been using in the future. "Abby's gonna kill you, mate."

"Nah, she's used it. I just buy her a new one each Christmas and birthday. Sorta a running joke between us. To be honest, I'm more concerned about telling her we live with me sister."

"Then don't. She'll never know the difference when time changes. And you _do _realise Jess isn't actually your sister, right? I said she…"

"I know, I know," Connor interrupted, "but I kinda liked the idea. Always wanted a kid sister, I did. I gotta tell Abby though. No more secrets is what she said, except good ones like Christmas presents and surprise birthday parties, only the Christmas presents aren't usually a secret since it's always a hairdryer but…"

Matt rolled his eyes and turned back to the machine in front of him and interrupting Connor without care as he changed the subject, "Okay, tell her then but let's get started. Are you _sure _this thing works?"

"You betcha! This machine is brilliant!" Connor grinned eagerly. "Now, where'd you put that artefact?"

Matt retrieved it from the safe for him, carefully shielding the combination with his hand as he did so and ignoring Connor's untrue complaint about how even Philip had trusted him more. Matt actually did trust Connor, it was more the CCTV cameras that kept him wary, but he wasn't about to tell the other man that. "Here," he said as he handed Connor the artefact, "It's your time to shine."

Connor fumbled with the artefact nervously, far too nervous for someone who was 100% sure of his own invention, Matt nodded. "Connor, you're _positive _about this?" he asked again.

"Yep," Connor nodded, "Pretty positive."

"Just checking."

A moment later the machine suddenly whirled into life as Connor managed to correctly insert the artefact into its slot and the anomaly map glittered in the air above their heads. "Wow!" Connor exclaimed, "That gets me every time! And finally I'll have the chance to study it! Now is the device charged?"

"No," Matt replied giving him a strange look, "I didn't have this machine to charge it."

Connor picked it up and inserted it as well. Instantly the anomaly map disappeared back into the machine, but an error message appeared across the screen about the device being dead.

"How long does it take?" Connor asked.

Matt shrugged, "When we used to use them in the future it was three hours for a full charge, but this might take longer. I'm guessing that you've tinkered with this machine since then and made updates and improvements on it. The version we use makes a sound when it's ready."

"This one won't. There's nothing to make a sound," Connor said, "And you're probably right about the updates, as I _would _like to get some proper coils."

"Will it hurt to overcharge it?"

"No, it shouldn't," Connor replied.

"Then let's give it a full twenty-four hours. I'm going to pack and say goodbye to Emily. I don't know how long it'll take to find Jess so I want to make sure I've got a full charge."

"So you're taking it with you?"

"Of course,"

"Only I was kinda hoping I could take it apart and figure out how to make more…"

"You're forgetting something, Con," Matt said gently, placing his hand on Connor's shoulder. "Once I change the timeline, none of this will have happened. You're going to have to redo this entire invention again."

Connor groaned.

* * *

><p>There was really nothing else to do at the ARC while the device charged, and with Matt's reminder that any project he worked on would soon become erased, Connor decided to give up his work for the day and head home early. He picked up some pink tulips for Abby on the way as a surprise.<p>

He found her in the kitchen trying to put out an oven fire and he smiled to himself. Abby never had been known for her cooking skills. He laid the flowers on the table and then quickly moved to give her a hand. She stepped back and gratefully and let him take over. "You're just in time," she laughed.

Connor glanced at the baking sheet and tried to guess what the small black lumps were. "Potatoes?"

"Baked Apples, Style Brulé."

"Yeah, most your meals are brulé," Connor teased.

"Maybe when Matt rewrites history I'll be able to cook," Abby laughed.

Connor laughed too, "That'd make a nice change." He set to work making some new apples while Abby moved to sit on the nook and watch him work.

Suddenly she noticed the tulips on the table. "Are those for me?" she asked happily.

Connor burst out laughing, "Really, Abs? Who else would I be buying flowers for? Of course they're for you, Silly."

"Thanks Con!" Abby smiled brightly at him as she picked up the package and unwrapped the pink flowers so she could get them into a glass of water.

Connor nodded and when a comfortable silence fell between them he took a deep breath and said quickly, "Matt's-Jess-lives-with-us."

"What?" Abby's reaction was mostly a question as to what he had said, he'd mumbled so much.

Connor slowed down, finding it easier to say it a second time than it was the first. "Matt and I were talking earlier and he said that this Jess girl he's trying to save actually lives with us."

Abby frowned, "Why? Can't she get a place of her own?"

"I guess it's her flat in the first place. We're the ones as needs to get our own place only it seems we don't as we actually really like living with her."

"I don't!" Abby protested. "I want to move out!"

Connor laughed, "Then we will, yeah? Only you apparently don't feel like that when everything changes."

"Is it too late to stop Matt from changing time then?"

Connor nodded, "Yep, 'fraid so."

"Hmmph," Abby grumbled as she sat down again, but at least she didn't yell at him Connor noted happily to himself.

* * *

><p>"Do you absolutely <em>have <em>to do this?" Emily asked as she watched Matt pack a change of clothing into a backpack.

Matt looked at her curiously. "Since when do you oppose?"

"I don't, really. But I'm going to miss you."

"You might not notice I'm gone. I'm not sure at which point the course of history will change."

Emily sighed. "It just seems so weird to me that you will remember all of this, but I will not."

"I don't know that I necessarily will either," Matt corrected her. "I really have no idea how this will all pan out. For all I know, this version of me will cease to exist after, like Claudia Brown."

"Matt, don't even joke about that."

"I'm not, Emily, but you'll still have me, I promise. I'm just thinking, if I get trapped in a different timeline that doesn't exist after I do something to make it not exist… well I don't know what will happen. But the you in the rewritten history will be with the me in the rewritten history. I've already seen it."

Emily shook her head, not sure that she understood. "Just promise me we'll be together," she said.

"I promise."

"Only when you've rewritten history you won't have made that promise anymore."

"Nope," Matt chuckled, "Now you're catching on."

"And I once thought relationships in the Victorian era were complicated…"

Matt laughed and gave her a kiss before going back to packing his bag.

* * *

><p>The team gathered in the operations hub the next day for Connor's big reveal. Connor had enlisted some of the soldiers to help him move the machine into the hub only an hour ago and it now stood covered with a large white bed sheet that he'd stolen from Abby's pile of clean laundry that morning, mostly so that he could whip the sheet off to create a dramatic effect. Abby was now closely examining the sheet while they waited and Connor gave her a sheepish grin and quickly cleared his throat before she could question where'd it'd come from.<p>

"Ahem, if I could just get everyone's attention," he began, "I'd like to introduce to you the new Anomaly Map Reader or AMR for short." He ripped the sheet off and tossed it to the ground beside him, realising immediately that it was a mistake as Abby had just washed it. He winced and turned to her as she stomped over and picked it up. "Sorry," he apologized quickly and she rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't miss the poorly suppressed laughter written across her face and he knew he was forgiven so he continued with his speech as she folded the sheet.

""This machine," he placed his hand gently on the surface of the transformed photocopier, "uses the artefact to store the co-ordinates of every anomaly that has ever been and it graphs their patterns to also accurately predict where any new ones in the future will open up, excluding manmade ones. That information is then stored on the much more portable AOD which stands for Anomaly Opening Device." Connor pulled the device in question out of the machine, now fully charged. He held it up proudly. "This little guy can lock onto any of those anomalies, both past and future, and open them up at the press of a button or three. Please note, it can only open anomalies that have either existed in the past, or will exist in the future, so at times it may be necessary to go through two or even three anomalies to get to the right one."

"If that's the case," Abby asked, "How did Helen open the anomaly at the campground just in time for the embolotherium to run through?"

"Helen reopened the one they had originally come through," Connor explained. "Don't forget, they can move, with certain restrictions. We moved the one in the suncage ourselves, Sarah and I did. And then there was the one on Cutter's fault line that kept appearing in water but in a different place all the time. As long as it's in a certain range of the original and possibly within a direct line of it, they can move. I haven't figured out all the details about what the range is and stuff, but we can re-open them in a different place closer to us, sometimes. Any other questions?"

"Yes, I want to know what the hell is going on," asked a very familiar sounding voice behind them.

The team whirled around with huge grins on their faces and Abby dashed suddenly forward to embrace their boss in a friendly hug while the rest of the team watched in amusement. Lester patted her shoulder gently before pushing her away, "Don't make a habit of that, Ms. Maitland," he scolded her, but he was smiling.

"Good to see you alive," Matt smiled as he stepped forward to shake Lester's hand. "How are you?"

"Been better. They released me this morning from the hospital, but I'm starting to think it was just a trick and I've actually died and gone to hell after coming here and having to listen to that long and boring speech. Why can't it ever be, 'This thing opens anomalies. The End'?"

"I find Connor's speech fascinating!" Emily protested.

"Thank-you, Emily," Connor smiled at her.

"Is anyone actually going to tell me what's going on?" Lester asked.

"The others glanced at each other, not sure that Lester would let them continue if he knew, but Emily didn't seem to notice their hesitation as she spoke up. "Apparently we changed the past and we're missing an important team member named Jess, so Matt's going to time travel and get her back and save Becker's life in the process."

"Oh is that it? Carry on."

"Really?!" Connor asked excitedly.

"No not really! I want to know who authorised this."

Everyone turned and looked at Matt who stepped up to the plate. "I did, Sir and you can't stop me. It's too important."

Lester sighed and leaned upon the cane in his hand. Abby thought he still looked unnaturally tired and pale. She wondered what calls he'd made to get released from the hospital when he clearly wasn't ready yet.

"Matt's been right so far, I think we owe it to him to trust him," she reminded their boss gently.

"And all of you feel this way? That we should let Matt change time and have us cease to exist as we are?"

There was a bit of feet shuffling and head ducking and obviously no one but Matt was entirely comfortable with this idea, but Matt spoke up. "No disrespect intended, Sir, but it doesn't really matter what you say or disallow, nor what they all thing, because when I change time, you won't have said those things. None of this will have happened. This machine won't even exist and Connor's going to have to rebuild it."

"Does that mean I have to listen to his blasted speech again?" Lester groaned.

"Probably," Matt laughed before turning to the man in question. "C'mon Connor, let's do this thing."

"Right," Connor agreed, turning his attention back to the device in his hand. He nervously pressed a few buttons and instantly an anomaly appeared at the start of the ramp leading up to Lester's office. At the same time, all of the alerts in the building started blaring because of it. Connor tossed the AOD to Matt. "There ya go, Mate. Good luck and don't mess this up and wipe us all out, yeah?"

"I'll try," Matt teased. "You sure this goes to the near future?"

Connor did a quick check with the dating calculator and nodded.

"Then I guess this is it," Matt said as he gave Emily one more kiss and wiped away the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks. Then he grabbed his bag and stepped through the anomaly, closing it quickly behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

The amount of dust in the air made Matt think for a moment that he was back ini a broken future, but he realised seconds later that he was standing in the middle of a construction zone on a hot but windy day. He inwardly cursed Connor before turning in a slow circle to get a better feel for his surroundings. The site itself seemed to have been fortunately abandoned for the evening, but the amount of construction vehicles left behind suggested that the workers would be back in the morning. It didn't matter; Mat would be long gone by then and the anomaly already was.

"Oi! You can't be in there!" Someone yelled at him from the street, "Out before I call a copper!"

Matt quickly ducked through a narrow gap in the steel rental fence surrounding the site and approached the other man. "Sorry," he apologized, "Just looking. Do you mind telling me where I am?"

The man eyed him warily, as if trying to determine whether or not Matt was causing trouble, but finally he shrugged and pointed to a large wooden street sign, "Whatcom Street."

"And the city?"

The man sighed and gave him a look of disgust and Matt knew he was thinking Matt'd had a few too many to drink, but he did reply, "Aylesbury."

"Right, thanks," Matt responded. He didn't actually have the foggiest where Aylesbury was, but the man had a British accent so at least that was a good sign and he knew better than to ask any more questions so he excused himself and set off to find a convenience store where he could hopefully purchase a map and a cup of coffee. His goal was to get to London and start looking for Jess at the universities, though for all he knew she could be living in Aylesbury. He sighed.

* * *

><p>It took almost six hours for Matt for find an open corner shop. Apparently the word convenience had a different meaning in Aylesbury, he mused. When he did finally find an all-nighter, they didn't officially sell maps, but the owner had his own crinkled one in his car that he was willing to part with for twice the price it was worth new. Mat took it, along with a not-so-fresh cup of Joe, and got the shop owner to ring him a cab. Then he went outside to wait in the hot summer's night air.<p>

* * *

><p>The ride into London took about an hour and a half and Matt spent most of that time studying the map. He located, as best he could, where the train crash might have happened twelve years prior to the time he was now in, and began circling the universities and numbering them in order of which ones he thought Jess would be most likely to attend, if she were in London at all. By the time they reached the city, the early morning sun was just starting to rise. Matt had the driver drop him off at a hotel near the first university to that he could catch forty winks before starting his search.<p>

* * *

><p>By the time Matt had awoken, showered, and bought some breakfast-to-go, it was half eleven. He headed to the university, not quite sure what he was expecting. He tried the easy route first, and was not at all surprised when the secretary told him in no uncertain terms that it broke all sorts of privacy laws for her to tell him if certain people attended the school or not, let alone give him their contact information. Matt wished he had Jess with him to hack into the school's computer system, but, then again, if he had Jess with him, he wouldn't need to. He tried asking a bunch of students and none of them had heard of a Jessica Parker, but it was a big school and even if she attended he figured they'd be unlikely to know her if they didn't have any classes with her. He persisted until a faculty member threatened to call the cops on him, and then headed back to the hotel, deciding he'd have to try a different approach. He switched on the hotel's telly and logged into the internet, looking up the class schedules for each university's high level computer classes. He'd stand outside each one if he had to, if only there weren't so many at the same time as each other. He slammed his fist against the wooden desk in frustration and began pacing the room.<p>

It took an hour of frustrated pacing for Matt to realise that doing nothing would get him nowhere, so he took his list and tried phoning a few of the universities. At first he just asked if she attended the school and was met with the same resistance he had when he'd shown up in person. Then he tried acting like he knew she attended that school and was in class at that time, and he had to get a hold of her because there was an emergency. He was met with _less _resistance and more confusion. While the person on the other line was willing to put him on hold and check for him, they always came back saying she wasn't there at the moment. When he inquired further if she attended the school at all or not, just in case he had the wrong one, he was given the much too familiar line again that they couldn't release that information.

Eventually he exhausted his list of schools in the area, and so he started again at the top. It had taken three hours to get through the long list the first time, having been put on hold over and over, and so he hoped that if she hadn't had classes earlier in the day, she might now.

Only the secretaries weren't as friendly to him the second time around and the majority of them told him to call her mobile and not phone back. And so Matt gave up for the night, ordered some dinner and went to bed early. In the morning he'd have to resort to searching the campuses again, though he was starting to feel as if the task were impossible, and he didn't even know if she attended a London university.

* * *

><p>Four days and fourteen universities later, Matt finally realised that he'd been doing things the hard way all along. It was actually an overheard conversation between two students studying out in the hallway that made the light bulb turn on and he rushed back to the hotel to find Jess the modern way: Facebook.<p>

* * *

><p>There were exactly two hundred and thirty-four people living in Great Britain with the names Jessica Parker, Jess Parker, Jessica P. and Jess P. combined. At least, that was the total that had Facebook accounts in their proper names. He focused on the ones that just said Jess first. Only about a dozen had privacy settings low enough to let him see the profile pictures, and none of them were the girl he was looking for. He thought for a long time and then sent off a private message to the rest:<p>

_Jess, My name is Matt and you may or may not be the person I am looking for, but if you remember a flickering light and a tragic train crash, I need your help. _

Good enough, he thought to himself. Now he just had to sit back and wait for the reply.


End file.
